HazelFest 2017 to celebrate sobriety with Lizzo, Har Mar Superstar

Minneapolis hip-hop/R&B star Lizzo touted a healing message at her buzzed-about South by Southwest appearances last month in Texas and will do the same at HazelFest. / Tony Nelson for Star Tribune

The best summer music fest for celebrating redemption and/or avoiding drunk people, the Hazelden Betty Ford Center’s fifth annual HazelFest lineup was announced Thursday with a truly celebratory all-Minnesota lineup led by feel-good hip-hop powerhouse Lizzo and the R&B/pop guru who took her on tour as a newbie in 2013, Har Mar Superstar.

The old cohorts will be joined by throwback soul men Sonny Knight & the Lakers and HazelFest mainstays Communist Daughter, whose frontman Johnny Solomon is a proud success story from the center’s treatment care. As always, the event will offer sobriety programs and activities for kids in a booze-free environment on the nationally renowned center’s scenic grounds in Center City. The $15 tickets are available at HazelFest.org (kids 12 and under are free).